You study lots of grammar.
You learn new words every day.
But when someone asks you a difficult question, a big, abstract idea, your mind goes totally blank.
You think, I know the English words.
Why can't I make a good sentence?
The real problem is simple.
Your brain does not have the ideas it needs.
Your inner world is empty.
Think of it as your mental library.
You are trying to build big B2 and C1 thoughts, but your library only has kids' books.
Stop wasting time on easy content.
In this video, I will show you how to fill your mental library so you can finally speak with deep, mature ideas.
But before we get started, make sure you try out my new app, the B2 Edge.
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It's me coaching you whenever you need it.
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We've been getting some great feedback from users and I'm looking forward to having you as a user as well.
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Welcome to another lesson and, as you can see here, this is everything we're going to be covering today and, as usual, let me start by giving you the briefing.
This is the briefing for today.
Today's lesson is about why you can't think properly in English or, like the title of the video said, why your mind goes blank, especially when people ask you deep questions or questions that are not so obvious to answer.
The topic today is about cultivating your inner world to reach advanced fluency.
Here's an overview.
This lesson explores the critical link between intellectual maturity and language proficiency.
It shifts the focus from traditional vocabulary drills to building a rich inner world visualized for students as a mental library.
The lesson argues that to speak complex English, one must consume complex content.
It guides students through an audit of their current media consumption and provides a strategy to move from passive viewing to active contemplation of deep material literature, classic cinema biographies, thereby stocking the shelves of their mind with the references needed for B2 and C1 level expression.
We have some more.
Here's the core problem, and this is a core problem that I have observed in my 20 plus years teaching students.
Intermediate learners frequently freeze or provide childish, shallow answers when asked abstract, creative or philosophical questions.
This failure is often misdiagnosed as a lack of vocabulary.
In reality, it is caused by an empty inner world.
In English,
The learner lacks the mental raw materials, cultural references and intellectual depth required to construct mature arguments and hypothetical scenarios in their second language.
Don't get me wrong here.
Okay, let me clarify.
I'm talking about having a mental library that is empty.
In english, in your second language, you know, i am sure, that in your native language you have a vast mental library that you can draw from, but you also have to build one in your second language.
That's what we're going to be talking about today.
So today we're going to be covering these three points.
First, what is your inner world?
Why is your inner world so important?
And then at the end, I'm going to give you some tips on how to enrich your inner world.
This lesson is intended for intermediate and advanced English learners who struggle to communicate their ideas in more effective ways.
The main skills we're going to be covering today are cultural references, and critical thinking.
Cultural references, because language and culture go hand in hand.
So that's what we're going to be discussing today.
So now that we have the briefing, let's get started with the first point right here.
What is your inner world?
What is this thing that we all have, our inner world?
Here's an image to illustrate.
Take a look.
This is your inner world.
So take a moment to appreciate the image here, the illustration.
And this represents your inner world.
It's a beautiful picture, isn't it?
Look.
Your inner world is the mental landscape you live in.
It is the warehouse of raw materials stored in your mind.
It is the sum of every book you've read, every movie you've watched, every conversation you've had and every complex idea you've engaged with.
When you speak English, you aren't just pulling ideas out of thin air.
You are walking into this landscape, this one right here.
We're walking into this landscape, picking up something from it and handing it to the listener.
To make this concept even more concrete, let me give you another metaphor right here.
Look at this beautiful library.
Again, take a moment to appreciate the image, the illustration.
As you can see, here we have a vast library full of books and manuscripts, and this person here is you.
This is you accessing something from this library.
Anytime you have to speak English with people, you have to communicate your ideas or answer questions.
Every time you have to do that, this is what you access, your mental library.
Look, imagine your inner world as a mental library.
This library is the warehouse of raw materials in your brain.
It is the sum of every book you've read, every movie you've analyzed, every deep conversation you've had.
When you speak English, you aren't creating from scratch.
You are walking into this mental library, pulling a book off the shelf and handing an idea to your listener.
All right?
So these are two simple metaphors to illustrate what I mean by your inner world or your mental landscape.
We can also call it your mental library.
All right?
But now, let's move on and talk about the second point.
Why is your inner world so important?
Why?
If your landscape is empty or if it's only filled with simple daily objects, you cannot build a complex, advanced or more effective argument.
If that library that we just saw is empty or if it's only filled with simple childish books, You literally lack the raw material to form a complex thought.
And then your mental library or landscape might look something like this.
Take a look.
If you don't actively feed your mind, your soul, your brain with mature, useful information and references.
This is what your mental library in English is going to look like.
So if you are in a job interview or having a deeper conversation with someone and you have to share your thoughts and opinions about something that is more complex or abstract, and then you go to your mental library and this is what you see.
This is what you get.
You won't be able to have a proper discussion, a proper mature conversation with this person.
There are some things here.
Yeah, you might be able to pick something up here and deliver it back to your listener, but it won't be as effective.
You see?
Hopefully these metaphors and these images are starting to make sense to you about what I mean when it comes to you know enriching your mental landscape, your inner world, your mental library.
Ideally, you want to have an inner world or a mental library that looks something like this.
Take a look.
Much different, isn't it?
You see the vastness of information available here.
All the books that are instruments, you know, that are manuscripts.
You see, so this is something that we all, all of us, should aspire to have in our minds, in our inner world.
We want to build a rich inner world so that we have interesting ideas to share with others when we have to talk to them.
Does that make sense?
Are you following?
Now, why does this matter for your English?
Well, because there is a massive difference between a B1 speaker of English and a B2, C1 and C2 level speaker of English.
Because intermediate English, usually levels B1, B1+, is all about survival.
It's about ordering food and describing your day.
It's about traveling and checking in at a hotel.
It's about functional, operational English.
You don't necessarily need a rich inner world for that, you know, for that kind of communication.
Now, I understand that for some people, that level is completely okay.
It's enough.
But...
If you are watching me here, if you have been following my channel for a while, you know that that's not what I am about.
I am about the next step.
I am about the next level.
So if you are here, it's because you want to keep growing.
You want to keep growing your English, and you want to take it as far as you can.
You want to communicate as fluently, as confidently, as naturally and with the same level of maturity as you have in your native language.
That's what you want.
And that's what you're here watching me, listening to me right now.
While intermediate English, B1 and B1 plus English is about survival, everyday communication operational, functional English.
Advanced English is about intellect.
The key trait of an advanced speaker is the ability to handle abstract topics, not just everyday describer day kind of topic.
It's also about persuading others and using nuance.
Now, here's the point I'm trying to drive home here.
If you only consume shallow content, And see that I even highlighted only, okay?
I'm going to get to that in a second.
So if you only consume shallow superficial, simple content like funny 15-second TikTok videos, gossip action movies that have absolutely no story and that are just an explosion of visual effects,
Music with lyrics talking about getting drunk and partying all night?
Or books like Fifty Shades of Grey?
I'm sorry, your inner world remains shallow, superficial.
The shelves of your library are empty.
Now, now is a perfect moment for a little caveat right here.
Let me add a caveat, okay?
Guilty pleasures are okay.
Notice that I'm saying the problem is if you only consume this type of content.
There's nothing wrong with shallow, simple, silly and stupid kind of content.
There's nothing wrong with listening to a song that has nothing to say, but the beat is fun and then you can dance it with your friends in a party.
There's nothing wrong with that.
There's nothing wrong with watching a movie that is more silly and stupid.
Maybe a comedy that doesn't really add much in terms of your intellect, but it keeps you entertained at the end of a hard, long day of work.
There's nothing wrong with that.
Okay?
Guilty pleasures are okay.
That's a good expression, by the way, right?
A guilty pleasure is exactly that.
It's like when you enjoy a certain type of movie or TV program or music that is generally considered of low value, like intellectually speaking, but you like it anyway, for whatever reason.
It's okay.
Guilty pleasures are fine.
I certainly have my guilty pleasures.
My point here in today's lesson is if you only Again, if you only consume this type of content day in, day out, week in, week out, month in, month out, what do you think that's going to do to your brain, to your cognitive abilities?
Do you think it's going to grow and develop?
Turn you into an effective communicator?
Hardly.
You see?
So the problem here is only consuming this type of silly, shallow, stupid content.
All right?
Because when you are asked a deep question, you will struggle to answer that.
Not because you don't know the English words, because you know.
If you are already an intermediate to upper intermediate learner of English, if you have been studying English for a few years, you probably have the vocabulary you need to communicate your ideas well already.
So it's not really a lack of words, but you will freeze when asking or when answering a deeper question, because you don't have the reference points in your inner world to draw from.
You can't express a deep thought if you haven't consumed deep thoughts.
Does that make sense?
Check it out.
Shallow input guarantees shallow output.
Let that sink in for crying out loud.
Let me say that again.
Shallow input guarantees shallow output.
One more time, because three times is the charm, right?
Shallow input guarantees shallow output.
Think about that.
So, the question I would like you to ask yourself now for reflection is this.
Have I been consuming content that actually adds value to my life?
That actually enriches and feeds my intellect, feeds my soul?
Or have I been consuming content just for entertainment?
Think about that.
So, hopefully you got the point.
So now...
I am going to give you some tips on how to enrich your inner world.
Okay.
So maybe you know, you realize that your mental library, your inner world, could use a little bit more.
You know stuff in there more interesting stuff.
So you have, you know, a significant points to share.
So how can you do that?
How can you enrich your inner world?
First of all, audit your input.
Look at the English content you consumed this week.
Was it all junk food?
All quick, shallow entertainment?
Videos or posts?
Was it mindless scrolling?
Or was it nutritious content?
To cultivate a rich inner world, you need to expose yourself to complex human experiences.
And there are some great ways in media for you to do that.
For example, by watching classic movies, classic songs, reading classic literature.
I mean, why do we have such a thing as a classic something?
Why do we have classic movies, classic songs, classic stories?
The reason why these things are called classic is because they have stood the test of time, because they deal with existential, universal concepts that every human being can relate to, no matter the point in time.
That's why a movie that was made 40 years ago can still carry a lot of relevance today, because it deals with existential, universal concepts.
Or a book that was written 100 years ago can still hold relevance today.
That's why these things are classic.
Because they stand the test of time.
So, let me give you a few examples here.
Yeah, these are some of my personal, my favorite personal movies, and there's a TV show here as well.
But just to give you a few examples, okay?
This is barely scratching the surface.
There's so much great media out there, so much great content for you to consume.
But let me just give you a few examples here.
I love The Godfather, for example.
What are some recurring themes that The Godfather, the movie, covers?
It covers loyalty to family.
It discusses that theme, loyalty to family.
How valid is loyalty to family?
And it makes you wonder, like, is loyalty to family everything?
Or there are exceptions?
You know, maybe there are moments in life when you don't necessarily have to be loyal to family.
You see, I mean, you start asking these questions once you get in touch with a movie like that.
It also deals with strategic thinking.
There are many scenes in The Godfather where you see people negotiating deals.
Engaging in power plays.
So you get to observe How that is done.
You see, you're learning stuff.
By observing that Negotiation tactics as well You know How to negotiate successfully, Negotiate a deal.
What about Back to the Future?
I love Back to the Future, one of my top favorite movies.
I mean, one recurring theme throughout the movie is meeting your parents at a young age.
That's what the protagonist does.
He lives in the present.
With a time machine.
He goes back in time 30 years and then he gets to meet his teenage parents his mom and dad at the same age he is because he's a teenager.
So what an amazing concept, isn't it?
What an amazing idea.
Like, oh man, I mean, what would it be like?
What would it look like if I met my dad at 17 years old, my mom at 17 years old?
And then you realize that we are all young ones and we are all stupid and silly and naive ones.
This is one of the themes from the movie that makes you think about And Back to the Future.
Also deals with confidence a lot, especially the first movie.
And not even with the protagonist, Marty, but his father, George.
Because his father's arc in this movie is incredible.
George McFly, Marty's dad, he starts out the movie being a very insecure, weak type of person.
But because of the events of the movie, by the end of it, he has completely turned his life around.
So it's a lesson also of the importance of being confident in who you are and believing in yourself and taking that chance, going for what you want in life.
You see, all these themes are there in Back to the Future.
Now, you may have seen the movie and just...
You may be thinking now, oh child, I haven't noticed any of these things.
Well, maybe because you just saw the movie for entertainment sake, but you didn't really watch it with that critical mindset of actually analyzing what is being shown there.
And that's what I would like you to start doing more.
That's what I want to encourage you to do more.
Not just consume things for entertainment, but consume things to learn.
Analyze them.
Use your brain.
Use your critical thinking muscles.
What about this one?
The Gladiator.
Great movie.
I mean, what are some themes that this movie covers?
Sticking to principles and values.
The importance of having your principles and your values clearly defined and sticking to them no matter what, no matter the consequences.
But you remain true to who you are.
It also deals with courage and all the importance of being brave and courageous.
And, interestingly for me at least, when I was watching The Gladiator, I also identified this theme of lack of parental love or lack of parental support, especially when it comes to Commodus, the villain, the main villain.
Because one of the main reasons Commodus turns evil and does everything he does was because he's always searched for his father's love and approval, but he never had that his entire life.
Maximus.
On the other hand, even though he wasn't Marcus Aurelius' son like biological son, he was more favored by Marcus, and that made Commodus envious.
And then that's why he betrays his father, betrays Maximus, and the whole story unfolds.
But you see, I mean, it kept me thinking as well like, oh man, I mean, maybe if his father had showed him some love and support throughout his life, he wouldn't have done all those terrible things he did.
You see?
So again, I mean, you see how much you can extract from watching great movies or great stories like that.
Another example, let's pick Breaking Bad.
Again, great TV series.
I mean, one theme that we can draw from it is the extremes a person can get to.
I mean the main character here, Walter White.
He starts the show in season one one way and by season five he has fallen down hard.
I mean, he's a completely different person.
He's not the same guy anymore.
So watching that transformation and watching the extremes a human being can go from point A to point B, in this case, in Walt's case, like you know, point A to point Z, let's say is incredible.
It's a character study.
What about this?
I mean.
Breaking Bad also illustrates very well the idea that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Right, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, because It's not enough for you to just have good intentions.
Your actions must be good, must be in accordance.
Otherwise, bad things will happen.
That's what happens in Breaking Bad.
I mean especially at the beginning.
Walter had good intentions for wanting to start selling drugs and being involved in the criminal world.
But his actions were not good, were not in accordance with his intentions.
So, the story just unfolds into this downward spiral of disaster and tragedy.
And another great theme or point that I got from Breaking Bad is this. the ego unchecked.
We all have our egos, you know.
But if we don't check our egos from time to time, it can devour us, it can control us and turns us into something you know, not pleasant.
And again, that's what happens to Walt.
I mean, a lot of the bad decisions he makes throughout the story is because of his ego.
You see?
So these are some examples of movies and TV series that I love personally and that are deep enough to give you interesting themes and ideas and things to reflect on, to ponder.
But what about music?
Let me just give you one example.
I mean, let's pick Queen, for example.
Great classic rock band, right?
Let's pick the song.
We are the champions, right?
This is the first verse of the song.
We are the champions.
Listen, I've paid my dues time after time.
I've done my sentence, but committed no crime and bad mistakes.
I've made a few.
I've had my share of sand kicked in my face, but I've come through.
So this song, for example, talks about overcoming challenges, overcoming difficulties.
And we all go through difficulties.
We all go through challenges.
But this song talks about that, talks about overcoming this spirit, the winning spirit of overcoming challenges.
You see, and this is just the first verse of the song, if you read the rest of the lyrics, you will get this um meaning, this message that you know um, You got to become a champion of your life, you know, by overcoming the obstacles and challenges life throws at you.
You see?
So that's what I mean.
It's not just about songs related to party, party, party, fun, fun, fun.
Let's drink.
Let's get wasted.
Woohoo.
You know, not just that kind of song, but it's a song that makes you think, that has a positive, impactful message.
You see?
And I didn't even include this here, but in the second verse of We Are The Champions.
Fred is saying something really cool here, because he says that even though he has become famous and rich,
He says that it hasn't been a bed of roses.
It hasn't been all that perfect.
You see?
So even that, I mean it makes you think that okay, I mean it doesn't really matter whether you are, you know, a really poor person or a really famous rich person, you will have problems.
You will have challenges.
Maybe the challenges will be at very different proportions and scales, but everybody has problems.
That's another idea that this song communicates.
We might look at Freddie back then and go like, oh man, I mean, he had it all.
Yeah, he had everything.
But he's not saying that in the song.
It wasn't a bed of roses.
You see?
Now just to move to books a little bit.
This is just one example of a book that I read when I was in my 20s On the Road.
On the Road, by Jack Kariak.
And let me just read the the plot here for you.
Yeah, the summary look.
This novel follows the story of a young man and his friend as they embark on a series of cross-country road trips across america during the late 1940s and early 1950s.
The protagonist, driven by a desire for freedom and a quest for identity, encounters a series of eccentric characters and experiences the highs and lows of the beat generation.
The narrative is a testament to the restlessness of youth and the allure of adventure underscored by themes of jazz, poetry and drug use.
So, for example, I read this book when I was in my 20s and to me back then it made perfect sense to read this book, because this book talks about that, about the importance of freedom and being a young person and wanting to explore, You know.
So it made perfect sense for me back then when I read this book.
And I also learned a little bit more about the beat generation from this book, which actually was a movement that we could look at it as the precursor, in many ways, to the hippie movement in the 60s.
You see, so you learn a lot when you engage with great movies, great songs, great books.
This is all examples of enriching your inner world, adding more significant content to your mental library, so that next time you are in a conversation you have interesting ideas to pull from and then you become an interesting person to talk to.
I mean, I think that...
We also have this aspiration of becoming the type of person that people like listening to.
Am I the type of person that people like listening to?
Am I the type of person that has interesting enough ideas that people care to stop and listen to what I have to say, to what I have to share?
In my opinion, that should be everybody's aspiration.
And the way to do that is by cultivating your inner soul, your inner world.
Secondly, you can also do this because you know we have just been discussing so far about doing that audit over content right, what type of content haven't been consuming more often lately?
But also you can move from consumption to contemplation.
Don't just consume content to kill time.
Use it to stock your library.
Watch films that explore human nature, movies about courage betrayal, redemption.
Read biographies of people who overcame great struggles.
When you engage with these complex ideas, you are placing high-quality books on the shelves of your mind.
Let me give an example of a great biography here.
Let's pick Michael Jordan, for example.
There is this famous biography of his called The Life. that you can read.
There's also the documentary, The Last Dance.
It's a great documentary, you know?
Great miniseries.
I saw it on Netflix when it came out.
Because, you know, Michael Jordan was... the most dominant force in basketball back in his prime.
I mean, he is the GOAT.
At least to me, he is the GOAT.
He will always be the GOAT.
I'm sorry what you think, but you know, to me, MJ is the GOAT.
But why is he the GOAT?
Why is he considered by many people to be the greatest of all time?
What is it about this man that made him who he is and who he was in court?
What is it about his way of thinking, his way of looking at the world?
You see.
So by reading his biography or by watching even the documentary, you get a glimpse, you get a better idea of how he thinks.
And you might extract something useful to your life from that.
This is one example of a biography that you can engage with.
And many other famous people or people who made significant things, significant contributions to society and history.
You can read their biographies and get inspired by them and learn with them.
You see?
So, here is the takeaway for today's lesson.
Remember, B2 and C1 English is not just about communicating for communication's sake.
It's also about ideas.
As an intermediate learner, you need more than just vocabulary and grammar.
You need to feed your inner world.
Your inner world is your collection of ideas, your cultural repertoire.
The richer your inner world is, the more prepared you will be to have deep, meaningful conversations with the confidence and fluency of an advanced user of English.
So if you want to learn more or go further with this topic, I really recommend you watch this lesson that I did here on the channel about a year ago.
It's one of my oldest lessons by now.
In this video I do a full breakdown of an iconic scene from Scent of a Woman.
This movie with Al Pacino.
And I do a breakdown of this beautiful monologue that he gives at the end of the movie.
It's like a five-minute monologue.
And I do a breakdown of the message, what he's saying there.
I explain some vocabulary as well.
But you know, it could be already a good starting point for you to, you know, feed a little bit more your inner world or your mental library.
All right, so this is it.
This is everything we have covered today.
So it looks nice like this right, i mean from the distance.
I hope you found this lesson useful.
I hope It made you think and it made you reflect on your relationship with movies, TV series music books, culture in general.
Because I do believe that culture is extremely connected to language.
Language is not just about learning grammar and vocabulary and that's it.
It's also about learning the culture and the pop culture that accompanies that language.
So hopefully this lesson today got you excited.
To you know, expand your mental library some more in your inner world.
And don't forget to download my app, the B2Edge.
This is a great companion app.
It's powered by AI.
It's highly personalized and every day.
It helps you stay consistent with your practice, because you have activities to do every day and they are highly personalized.
The app keeps reviewing content with you, so it's not like you learn a word here or a grammar point here and then you're done.
You will keep reviewing that. over and over throughout time as you use the app.
So it's a really cool solution and I'm looking forward to having you try it and use it, because I think it's going to help you tremendously.
If you are new here and if you like this lesson, subscribe to the channel so you can have access to more lessons like this and like this video.
If you found it useful, if you found it enriching, Like this video.
Share this lesson with somebody else who needs to think about this as well.
And if you want to keep learning English some more and expanding your inner world, check out this lesson next, because you know it's going to be tons of fun and enriching.
See ya.
